In 1754, Canaletto painted the interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh Gardens. The painting shows Georgian Londoners promenading in their finery, dwarfed by the cavernous scale of a new kind of space for public entertainment. Exquisitely ornamented and lit by a thousand 'golden' lamps, this vast Rococo rotunda - 150ft in diameter - might be described as the original pleasure dome. Arranged around its edges were booths or 'supper boxes' for dining, drinking, smoking and cavorting. Mozart, aged nine, once gave a recital on the orchestra stand. Patronised by pleasure seekers from all classes, it was a Georgian social condenser, with admission by 'ticket rather than title'.
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